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Johns, Garnett To Battle For Men's Singles Crown
Ben Johns booked his spot in the men’s singles final with a 7-11, 11-3, 11-8 victory over No. 2 seed Hunter Johnson.
It was a contest that featured contrasting game styles, with Johns opting for more cat-and-mouse points and Johnson frequently going for winners from the baseline.
The latter struck first and took the opening game, but Johns—as he’s done so many times before—rebounded to take the second and proved to be too solid down the stretch in Game 3.
The No. 4 seed eventually took that third game to advance to his second singles final of 2025.
Johns spoke about some of the challenges that Johnson brings as an opponent.
“Sometimes, Hunter will hit shots where there’s not really much you can do. He’ll hit a clean winner even if you’re covering the right spot. He also serves pretty big, so if you start missing returns then that can add up quickly,” he explained. “It’s just about focusing on the next point, making returns, and at least trying to make him hit an extra ball because nobody makes them forever. And then when I had the ball, I just had to keep serving big so that I could put points on the board and keep the pressure on.”
Johns will face Connor Garnett on Championship Sunday.
In the second semifinal, Connor Garnett cruised past No. 8 seed Dylan Frazier and came away with an 11-6, 11-3 victory.
The No. 3 seed came out on fire and jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening game behind several blistering backhand winners.
He didn’t look back from there and went on to close out Game 1 before comfortably taking the second to secure his first victory over Frazier in four tries.
“Dylan’s obviously a good competitor, but I’ve got that 3 next to my name for a reason, so I’ve just gotta keep believing in myself,” Garnett said after the match. “This will be my first Championship Sunday this year, so I’m really stoked about that. I’ve been putting a little pressure on myself to make that happen, so it’s nice to get that money off my back.”
Sunday will mark Garnett’s first look at Ben Johns since falling to him in the semifinal of the Carvana Mesa Cup back in February.
